hotel accolades

5 luxurious DFW hotels land on Travel + Leisure's best of 2026

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Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek/Facebook

Five of the most luxurious hotels in Dallas-Fort Worth, including Dallas' Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, have earned prestigious acclaim in Travel + Leisure's annual report of the 500 best hotels in the world for 2026.

The T+L 500 List rounds up the highest ranked properties from the magazine's annual World’s Best Survey. Results are grouped geographically across eight global regions: the U.S.; Canada; the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean; Mexico, Central America, and South America; Europe; Africa and the Middle East; Asia; and Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.

The T+L 500 List is published separately from the World's Best Awards , which is the in-depth breakdown of the world's top hotels, resorts, travel destinations, and more. These local hotels have made consistent appearances in the awards over the years.

Rosewood Mansion has continued soaring in popularity since being named the best resort in Texas earlier this year by U.S. News & World Report. Since its opening in 1981, the hotel has established itself as one of the most popular hospitality properties in Dallas, and not just for its luxurious guest rooms.

The Mansion Restaurant is an icon in its own right, widely known for its decadent afternoon tea services and special holiday brunches. In celebration of Mother's Day, the restaurant will serve a three-course prix fixe brunch that also includes spring-inspired desserts.

The two other Dallas-area hotels and resorts were included in the T+L 500 List are Hotel Vin in Grapevine and Omni PGA Frisco Resort & Spa.

Hotel Vin has been undergoing renovations since 2025 to add 120 guest rooms and suites, an outdoor pool, a 5,000-square-foot event space, restaurant, and boutique spa. Most recently, the in-house restaurant Bacchus Kitchen + Bar debuted a major refresh of the menu, plus the introduction of new experiential programming like rotating wine pairing dinners.

Meanwhile, Omni PGA Frisco just wrapped up its SAVOR event, a four-day celebration of the best food and beverage offerings from iconic chefs, sommeliers, and mixologists from Texas' best restaurants and bars.

Award-winning hotels in Fort Worth
Bowie House and Hotel Drover were the two Fort Worth hotels that were included on the T+L 500 List. Praise for Bowie House also extends further than for its Southern hospitality; the hotel's live music series has starred hometown heroes like Leon Bridges, and its signature chophouse Bricks and Horses is highly regarded as one of the best restaurants in the city.

Hotel Drover is celebrating five years since its opening in the Fort Worth Stockyards with anniversary packages, limited-edition commemorative collaborations, and multimillion-dollar upgrades to elevate its already chic vibe. The hotel restaurant 97 West Kitchen & Bar is getting a full revamp to add year-round temperature control, outdoor patio seating enhancements, and an expansion for the horse trailer-turned-bar Pour Horse.

Hotel Drover backyard The Backyard at Hotel Drover is getting a revamp. Photo courtesy of Hotel Drover

Other Texas properties that made the T+L 500 List are:

Austin Proper Hotel
Commodore Perry Estate, Austin
Hotel Emma, San Antonio
The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa
The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston

hotels awards travel leisure fort worth resorts travel dallas

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Acclaimed Texas chef cooks up restaurant in swanky Hill Country hotel

Photo by Caroline Fontenot

Bludorn Hospitality is expanding to San Antonio and Fredericksburg.

Whether it's part of the trip or the reason for it, a new culinary experience will soon be awaiting Texans traveling to the Hill Country. Distinguished Texan chef Aaron Bludorn's Bludorn Hospitality Group will open a restaurant and lead the culinary program at The Kimpton Fredericksburg, a luxury hotel that’s expected to open in late 2027.

The still-unnamed restaurant will be a fresh concept from the company that’s behind five Houston restaurants — its flagship fine dining concept Bludorn, seafood restaurant Navy Blue, French-inspired Perseid at the Hotel Saint Augustine, and two locations of Bar Bludorn, including its recently opened location in The Woodlands. Later this year, Bludorn, his wife Victoria Pappas Bludorn, and their business partner Cherif Mbodji, will open a new restaurant in San Antonio's Pearl.

“We really loved the idea of being out in Fredericksburg. With us opening in San Antonio, we’ll already have a team out there,” Bludorn tells CultureMap. “We’re a growing Texas hospitality group. We see it as a great opportunity to grow our brand with Texans in really cool spaces.”

Bludorn adds that the restaurant will be a new concept from the company. Details, including its name and menu, will be released closer to the opening.

“We were drawn to Aaron’s ability to create a dining experience that feels both approachable and elevated, where exceptional food and thoughtful service come together in a way that makes every guest feel welcome,” said Blake Berg, senior vice president of development & construction for hotel owner DC Partners. “We recognize that experiential dining is an important part of what makes a destination successful, particularly in a market as distinctive as Fredericksburg.”

First announced in 2025, the Kimpton Fredericksburg is a 210-room luxury hotel. In addition to the Bludorn restaurant, it will offer a 10,000-square-foot outdoor pool and deck, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and more than 18,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

The hotel will anchor The Meuse, a 22-acre mixed-use development with more than 70,000 square feet of retail space. Previously announced tenants include Houston-based Padre’s Wine Company, Texas bootmaker Lucchese, westernwear label Double D Ranch, gourmet food company Fischer & Wieser, and Jackson Ballard Gallery.

Photo by Caroline Fontenot

Bludorn Hospitality is expanding to San Antonio and Fredericksburg.

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